Abstract

The (BLF-PT) solid solutionnanoparticles of different particle sizes are prepared using sol-gel method and characterized in terms of the size-dependent crystal structure, Raman scattering, dielectric susceptibility, and magnetism. Upon decreasing particle size, the crystal structure evolves from tetragonal symmetry to rhombohedral one, and a substantial enhancement of magnetization is observed. These size-dependent effects are reasonably explained by a simple thermodynamic scenario and first-principles calculation based on the BLF-PT multilayer model.

Received 15 June 2010Accepted 07 November 2010Published online 28 December 2010

Acknowledgments:

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 50832002 and 10874075), the National Key Projects for Basic Researches of China (Grant No. 2009CB623303 and 2011CB922101) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK2008024).